Belu Natural Mineral Water last week began production of UK's first biodegradable and compostable plastic bottle, made from a corn-derived plastic provided by NatureWorks. The bottle can be commercially composted back to soil in 12 weeks.
Over the past year packaging suppliers have been introducing various forms of biodegradable plastics, based on projections that regulations will drive demand for environmentally-friendly packaging, predicted to grow by about 20% pa. The sharp rise in oil and petrochem feedstock prices has made PLA a competitive alternative to polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and other packaging plastics.
* US-based Naturally Iowa use PLA for packaging products like organic milk and retailers like Delhaize in Belgium and Auchan in France have also been testing PLA for various food packaging. Il Melograno, Santarcangelo di Romagna of Italy is also using PLA for packaging its fresh-cut salads in clear, flex-fill bags.
* Danish-based Danisco has produced a plasticiser from hardened castor oil and acetic acid. It is colourless, odorless and completely biodegradable.
* UK-based Stanelco markets Starpol 2000 - a natural, biodegradable food packaging based on starch,
* German BASF is to launch a biodegradable plastic based on renewable raw materials. The company's Ecovio plastic is made up of 45% PLA from NatureWorks. The other component is BASF's existing biodegradable plastic Ecoflex, which is derived from petrochemicals.
* Europackaging in UK makes film bread bags from PLA that allow steam to escape, so bakers can package items while still hot.
30-May-06 
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